


What Makes A Friend?

by ActualGuyFieri



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-10
Updated: 2019-09-10
Packaged: 2020-10-13 17:47:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20586521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActualGuyFieri/pseuds/ActualGuyFieri
Summary: Though Spinel quickly befriended Pink and Blue Pearl, she found herself struggling to understand Yellow Pearl and what she finds fun. Unbeknownst to Spinel, Yellow Pearl feels the exact same way about her. As the two of them try to understand each other, they realize that friendship doesn’t only revolve around similar interests. In fact, it’s much deeper.





	What Makes A Friend?

**Author's Note:**

> After writing my last story, Loosen Up, I’ve realized that I really enjoy writing Yellow Pearl’s character, so I decided to write another!
> 
> Also, just to clarify, this story wasn’t written with the intention of being a ship/romantic, but it doesn’t bother me how you interpret it.

Confusing. 

That’s the word Spinel used to describe Yellow Pearl. Her poise, her no-nonsense demeanor, it was all so confusing to her. She couldn’t grasp her head around what Yellow considered fun. For Spinel, fun usually involved boundless energy and tons of hijinks. The thought of someone having fun by doing something _calm_ perplexed her. Perhaps it was just part of her nature as a Spinel.

But at the same time, Spinel knew that she wasn’t here to fill a purpose anymore. As the Diamonds have told her many times, with tenderness and care in their voices, “you are your own gem.”

But that didn’t matter right now. Spinel couldn’t let her mind distract her at the moment. She was peering from behind a column, watching as Yellow Pearl posed and Blue Pearl sketched her.

Spinel marveled at Yellow’s patience, how she stood, calm and refined, in the same pose, unmoving for a long period of-

No. 

Spinel quickly shut the thought down, knowing that if she continued thinking, her mind would spiral down to thoughts of her past.

However, Spinel’s sudden thought didn’t go unheard. She let out a slight gasp when she first had it. Suddenly, she realized that Yellow Pearl had turned her head and was looking straight at her.

She had heard.

Spinel quickly slipped back behind the column and left before Yellow could even investigate.  
————————————————————————  
Yellow Pearl was focused, her eyes closed and her body posed in an elegant manner. She gazed into the blackness of her eyelids, her mind was calm and thoughtless. She simply found herself focusing on her senses, the warmth of sunlight hitting her skin from the palace’s many windows, as well as the sound of Blue’s stylus lightly sketching against the holographic canvas.

Suddenly, she heard another sound. A light gasp. She turned her head, finding herself staring at Spinel for a split second, before she quickly darted behind the column. 

Once Spinel disappeared, Yellow reluctantly turned her head back around. Since Spinel had first moved into the palace a few months ago, Yellow found herself thinking about her a lot. In fact, she found Spinel to be rather confusing.

What does Spinel find so entertaining about her antics? Wouldn’t it be more enjoyable to do something more refined, more calming?

In fact, Yellow was surprised that Spinel wouldn’t rather engage in more calming activities. She found it so confusing that despite all the trauma she went through, she was still able to smile, laugh, play, and even enjoy herself.

Of course Yellow knew that even though Spinel was able to feel genuinely happy and have fun, she’s actually struggling still. A lot.

Though she’s never personally seen her upset, she just knew that if Spinel wasn’t to be seen and a door was closed, she had to be crying, or panicking, or venting to the Diamonds. It wasn’t very hard to see why Spinel was still struggling. 6,000 years of trauma and isolation can’t just be erased within a day, or months, or even years.

As Yellow continued to gaze into the blackness of her eyelids, she began to think about the Diamonds. Well, more along the lines of Spinel’s relationship with them.

Ever since Spinel first arrived, Yellow has seen her and the Diamonds’ relationship blossom. They grew incredibly close very quickly. Spinel would laugh with them, play with them, and talk with them. At the same time she also cried with them, grieved with them, and vented with them. 

They knew they had each other to rely on. To help each other grow, and cope, and change. Spinel had an incredibly beneficial friendship with the Diamonds.

And sometimes, Yellow wished she had the same with Spinel.

Yellow’s eyes shot open. She had the urge to seek Spinel out and make the initiative. She wanted to try to understand her interests and sense of humor, which in turn will lead to Yellow understanding _her_. 

Which may eventually lead to the friendship she had hoped for.

Yellow promptly asked Blue Pearl if she’d be willing to finish the sketch later. Though Blue was confused, as Yellow usually loved posing throughout the entire drawing, she agreed to finish drawing later.

Yellow traversed the halls of the palace, searching for Spinel. She eventually spotted her wandering the halls. She seemed to be lost in thought.

Yellow approached slowly from behind, hoping not to startle her. She began to speak, a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

“Hey, Spinel.”

Spinel turned around, finding herself staring at Yellow. Her mind began to race. She had clearly seen her from behind the podium. Was she here to confront her? Was she angry? She took a second to calm her mind before responding.

“H-hey, Yellow! How’s it g-going?”

Yellow was silent. What was she supposed to say, “hey Spinel, I suddenly want to get to know you!”

The silence continued a little longer and Yellow noticed Spinel begin to sweat. She fiddled with her hands. She suddenly broke the silence.

“Fine, I admit it! I was watching you from behind the column!”

She paused for a second, then spoke again, her voice more timid this time.

“I just wanted to understand you more.”

Spinel looked down to the ground in shame. Yellow realized that Spinel probably thought she was upset with her.

“I actually feel the same way, Spinel. I came here to talk to you, to understand you more.”

There was a bit more silence until Spinel perked up. She smiled and spoke.

“Sooooo, what do you wanna understand about lil ol’ me?”

“Well,” Yellow began, “I’ve always been confused about what you consider fun.”

Just like that, Spinel realized what she had to do. In order for Yellow to understand what she considers fun, she has to _show_ her.

So Spinel did just that, showing Yellow some of her favorite activities, trying to teach her as well. She began with juggling and acrobatics, which Yellow both failed at. Spinel couldn’t help but laugh as Yellow’s juggling balls fell right to the floor, slipping past her hands.

After going through a few more activities with Yellow, she prepared to show her one of her favorites, shapeshifting. Well, for her, it didn’t require effort, but she knew that all gems can at least shapeshift, so Yellow shouldn’t have a problem. 

Without any effort, Spinel easily stretched her legs really high, up to where she could touch the Palace’s ceiling. She shaped her finger into a megaphone and spoke down to Yellow far below her.

“REMEMBER WHAT I SAID, MAKE SURE YOU’RE ENTIRELY FOCUSED ON YOUR LEGS!”

Yellow tried, yet only managed to stretch her legs a few feet. Spinel shrunk her legs back down to normal height, and smiled at Yellow.

“Hey, great job! Trust me, one day you’ll be able to go as high as me!”

Yellow sighed, which caused Spinel to frown in concern.

“No matter what you’ve shown me, I still can’t seem to understand your interests! You’re so full of energy and I, well, I don’t think I can keep up with that sort of thing.”

Spinel pondered for a moment, trying to think of another way for them to understand each other. Suddenly, she got it.

“Hey! How about you show me what _you_ consider fun!”

Yellow smirked, “that’s true, I haven’t shown you anything yet.”

Yellow lead Spinel to the sunny spot where she was posing before. Yellow looked around before calling out in a sing-songy voice.

“Oh Blue! I’ve found you a new model!”

Upon hearing her, Blue arrived, smiling at the sight of Spinel. She began to prepare her holographic sketchpad as Yellow began to speak.

“Ok, so modelling’s rather simple.”

Yellow guided Spinel’s arms into a simple pose. 

“So all you have to do is stay here in this pose.”

Spinel didn’t expect the next words out of Yellow’s mouth.

“_Stand very still_.” 

Suddenly, it was all flooding back to her. 

Pink, the garden, the 6,000 years of pure torture. Unmoving, silent.

_Alone_.

Suddenly, without even thinking, without any sense of self control, Spinel snapped.

“NO!”

She pushed Yellow away from her, sending her sliding across the floor. Blue gasped, dropping the hologram.

Slowly picking herself up, Yellow turned to see Spinel. She was shaking, eyes wide and tears falling from her face. 

Spinel was in a state of pure fear and panic. Memories of her time in the garden flashed in and out of her head. She wasn’t registering anything around her. The traumatic memories were the only thing she could see and hear. 

Yellow slowly stood up and began to approach Spinel, speaking slowly and calmly.

“S-Spinel, I’m here, it’s ok-“

She was cut off by Spinel’s mumbling.

“N-no, y-you can’t make me, p-please.”

She began to get louder.

“D-don’t do it, p-please d-don’t-“

She could barely get her words out between her hyperventilation and gasping breaths.

Finally, she screeched, her voice a pitiful wail.

“DON’T LEAVE ME!”

Yellow rushed forward to embrace Spinel, who violently flinched instead. As Yellow inched closer, desperate to calm her, Spinel slowly backed away, terror in her eyes. She wasn’t thinking clearly, she didn’t register Yellow as any kind of help, rather as someone else who was going to abandon her and leave her standing alone with nothing but her horrid, unending intrusive thoughts to keep her company.

As Spinel continued to back away, Yellow suddenly stopped. She didn’t want to further scare Spinel. Yellow extended her hand out, in hopes that Spinel would realize it’s inviting her, not abandoning her.

Spinel stopped and stared, the tears flooding down her cheeks, aligning with the dark marks on her face.

She slowly began to inch forward, slowly lifting her own gloved hand out to reach Yellow’s. The moment they connected, Yellow slowly pulled Spinel in for a hug. 

Spinel sobbed in her arms, a broken, pitiful wail. She held on tight to Yellow as she began to get a grip with reality again. 

After what felt like hours, the two of them finally stopped embracing. At this point, tears were falling down both their cheeks.

Simultaneously, they spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

They then spoke simultaneously again.

“N-no, don’t be.”

Upon realizing that they were both thinking the exact same thing, Yellow began to giggle. Spinel followed suit, and before they knew it, they were laughing.

This time, it was Spinel who pulled in Yellow for a hug. She looked up at Yellow, a smile on her face.

Spinel spoke, pure joy, compassion, and love in her tone.

“Thank you.”  
————————————————————————  
It was there they both realized that you didn’t need to share interests to be friends. They didn’t even have to understand each other’s likes and dislikes. They knew, at this very moment, that they would always have each other’s endless support, love, compassion, and understanding.

And that, they realized, is what truly makes a friend.


End file.
